Weekly blog links

Chris P · 14 Apr 2009, 07:02 · from 2009-April.txt.gz

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From: rasputin_ at hotmail.com (Chris P)
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:02:22 +0000
Subject: (urth) Weekly blog links
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All other things aside I don't see what "sociology of publishing" has to do with the quality of a particular work. The work stands or falls on its own merit. It seems like you are taking for granted that certain aspects of the work are inferior and then, when asked for a reason, attempting to explain how such inferior aspects managed to get published. But what's being asked of you is an explanation of why you judge said aspects to be inferior in the first place.

I am not trying, in this case, to even argue with your conclusion. I just think your reasoning is not as clear as you think, because you're mixing up the possible questions that could be asked here and answering, at least in part, the wrong one.

> I thought I did in the post, but here it is again: I think the book
> (and several others) rely on the author's well-earned reputation for
> subtlety to mask or adorn what are essentially undeveloped
> pot-boilers. The time-travel aspect of Pirate Freedom illustrates this
> nicely, I think.
> 
> Dozois's introduction to FHC in _Modern Classics of Science Fiction_
> (viewable via google books) might shed some additional
> sociology-of-publishing light on this.
> 
> On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 12:32 AM,  <brunians at brunians.org> wrote:
> > So why don't you like the book, Jon? I understand from your article that
> > you don't like it: that is abundantly obvious. But I think a review of
> > this nature would be more useful if you would include a paragraph - even
> > half a paragraph - where you give your reasons for not liking it.
> >
> > Just a thought.
> >
> > Of course, you may just be a ouanquerre.
> >
> >
> >
> > .
> >
> >
> >> I believe I came to that conclusion a few years ago myself.
> >>
> >> I recently made some disappointed comments on Pirate Freedom:
> >>
> >> http://www.jgoodwin.net/?p=647
> >>
> >> How many of you agree that the Wolfe of Fifth Head, Peace, New Sun,
> >> Endangered Species (partially), and Death of Dr. Island and OS and OS
> >> is not even recognizably the same author as that of Pirate Freedom, An
> >> Evil Guest, or the Short Sun? (Shared concerns, yes. The quality of
> >> execution, however, is more like that of a bad imitator.)
> >>
> >>> There are quite a few advocates (including Dave Tallman on the wiki) of
> >>> the
> >>> theory that the narrator is himself a puppet, dismissed by this
> >>> commentator.
> >>> I don't buy it myself either, buit it is slightly nagging...
> >>>
> >>> best,
> >>>
> >>> Mo
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> # ~ # ~ #
> >>>
> >>> WolfeWiki now at:
> >>> http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/
> >>> _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
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